Avatar: The caged birds
by Sapphire and Emeralds
Summary: Talia is the oldest daughter of the only remaining master air bender, Master Tenzin. Only problem? Her air bending is week to the point that she becomes a disappointment and is moved to a location where she 'can study seriously'. However, she quickly becomes best friend with the Avatar. Both being tired and bored of being trapped in a cage they run away to explore the world.


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. **o0o**. **o0o**. **o0o**.- **The cage** -. **o0o**. **o0o**. **o0o**.

 **Prologue**

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Talia walked through the wooden hallway following the direction that one of the guards had given her. It was ironic, at least would be if she had a sense of humour. Shed just ended up swapping one prison to another. And if there was something that she really hated, it was being caged like a mascot.

Honestly, she felt like some incredibly rare bird. A bird that had had its caged swapped because someone thought they knew best with every little detail of her life. She hated it so much.

Sighing, she knocked on the door, waiting outside as some noises coming from the other side. A girl of roughly the same age opened it as they came face to face, both analysing the other with equal carefulness. She had dark brown hair and brown skin, cyan coloured eyes and was slightly taller than her. She was maybe a year or so older than her, which would mean she was probably somewhere between eleven to twelve years old.

"Your Master Tenzin's daughter, right?" She asked first in a slightly guarded manner.

"Biologically." She commented just as tense."I'm Talia, if you were wondering." She said, her eyes reflecting the same amount of boredom she usually felt thought her life.

"Korra, just Korra." She returned, the tension between them slightly lessened as they both returned to silence. As she let the girl in before closing the door behind them. While not a particular large room, it did seem cosy, with a sense of familiarity that the rest of the building simply didn't posses.

Korra carefully studied the girl in front of her, still slightly surprised that her 'owners' had allowed her to talk with someone that was anywhere near her age, at least since she'd been forced into this prison for her safety. Her hair colour was slightly lighter than that of the usual member of the water tribe, she slightly shorter than herself and possessed a pair of intense and sharp dark blue eyes that seemed to gaze right through you.

Awkwardly she sat down on her bed as Talia walked towards her own and let the bag slip off her shoulder, landing next to her own bed as she sat down.

"So..." Talia started thoughtfully."You're the avatar?" She asked as Korra cringed. At least there wasn't that look of disappointment or worship.

"Yes, unfortunately." Korra said slightly depressingly.

"Oh..." She said softly, nodding in understanding, surprisingly the first one to realise that she didn't like the title.

"Well, goodnight then." She said as Korra was left to ponder on her own thoughts.

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Korra barely had time to register the object before she caught it, surprised to see a canteen full of water. Locking around from where she was sitting, she spotted the oddity that she shared her room with.

"I thought you'd be thirsty." Talia said softly as she walked towards Korra, who nodded gratefully, drinking the much-needed water.

"You do this every day?" Talia asked curiously as she leaned on one of the columns.

"Don't really have a choice, they have a legal say in everything in my life" Korra said bitterly at the thought. It'd been years since she'd seen her own parents.

"You finished for the day?" She asked curiously as Korra nodded, not really sure what to say. What did people they age talk about anyway? For her, it was always Avatar responsibilities, or how she was doomed to fail if she didn't take the bending lessons seriously.

"Want to...well...do something else than a constant reminder that we in a cage?" She asked just as confused as to what people they age did.

"You know? Before I was taken the children of my village use to build snowmen." Korra said as Talia raised her eyebrow thoughtfully before nodding.

"Well, you'd know more about it than me, lead the way." She said slightly amused.

Unbeknown to the two of them, the day would serve as the foundation that would change the world itself.

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"You okay Talia?" Korra asked her best friend, who seemed to somehow be glaring at the sky without showing any expression on her face. The girl seemed to think for a second before letting out a sigh.

"Today would make it a year since I got here." She said more to herself than to Korra.

And it had been a year since they both had met. Somehow she wasn't sure how she had coped before with only her 'teachers' for conversation. Granted, Talia wasn't one to show much emotion's, but for Korra, it was fairly plain to see at this point. Which was why she was so confused.

"Oh, that's cool...Is it bad?" She asked not sure how to react to Talias comment.

"Youll see it sometime today." Talia said slightly annoyed about whatever it was that was going through her head. Korra knew better than to puss for any answers.

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"That's it?" Was the only two words that the man spoke for Korra to immediately dislike the man.

"There was never much, to begin with." Talia said in a very robotic like tone.

"Don't take that attitude with me, young lady, I left you here hoping that you'd actually study, but there was hardly any progress from the last time we had a lesson!" The man said in annoyance as Korra imagined the many ways she would enjoy seeing him suffer.

If there was one thing that Korra would use to describe Talia, it would be hardworking. The number of hours she had spend a day trying to improve her air-bending was more than Korra spent with each element together.

Talia had confessed that the reason she was sent away was because she was for, better terms, week in air-bending. Couldn't this man understand that it wasn't something that just improved through work? And he was supposed to teach her air bending when she finished the other three?

She was about to introduce her fist to the now ranting man when Talia sent her a quick but potent glare that clearly told her not to get involved. But that wasn't what Korra noted through it, it was the very well hidden part of her, the part that was clearly upset from what her father had just said. Biting her tongue, she waited with every ounce of patience she had, hoping that Talia would cave in and let her punch the man.

"Ill visit next year, and there better be progress this time or there will be consequences." He said before walking off, not sparing a second glance to either of the girls.

Korra didn't find Talia until hours after the man had left for Republic City, ironically in the bedroom she had checked three times including the one only half an ten minutes ago. She was crying softly on her bed.

Doing the same thing her mother did she hugged the girl who, to her surprise, almost desperately hugged her back as she cried on her.

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"I hate him" Talia commented as Korra sat next to her listening attentively.

"Is that why you never speak of..." Korra started, not sure how to finish the sentence.

"Yes" Talia nodded knowingly."He isn't a bad man, but nothing's more important to him than rebuilding the air nation. It's pretty much why I was sent here. He's given up on me, so now I'm just a way to keep the air bending nation alive" She said bitterly as Korra nodded not letting go of Talia's hand.

"I'm sorry" She said before Talia shook her head.

"Don't be. You pretty much the only one keeping me sane at this point, back at the temple Jinora could, it helped that she loved reading just as much as I did, but..."

"But she was an Airbender, and couldn't understand what you were going through. I, on the other hand, can't even bend a breeze of air." She said understandingly as Talia snorted.

"Sorry, it does sound horrible like that." She apologised as Korra smiled.

"Hey, I'm better than you in the other three elements, so we can call it even." She said as Talia let out an amused laugh before she closed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Korra?" She asked with a surprising amount of emotion.

"Yeah?"

"If I asked you to leave with me tonight, would you come?" Talia asked as Korra simply started at the girl.

"You can get us out of here?" Korra asked in surprise as Talia nodded. "Of course I do, there's nothing Id like more than to leave this place with my best friend."

Talia smiled warmly as she pulled something from under her bed, throwing it at Korra before grabbing another.

"It's fairly late, so no one will notice our absence for at least some few more hours." She said as Korra looked at the bag in surprise before smiling confidently.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

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 **Sup all.**

 **This was just something that I came up with at the spin of the moment, so there probably wont be any updates seeing how I haven't even thought of what would happen during the first book...even thought I had all of book four figured out, oh well. Hoped you enjoyed the short chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading. Kyomire out!**


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